Just Not Right

I can see that the little squares marked one and two are both white. And for that matter seven is white in the instructions. But even I can see after three seams that starting with white on the left results in a "just not right".

It isn't wrong unless you want the pattern in the directions, but it could be used to make squares within squares, not the instructions for this month's homework.

So I tore the six units like this out and started over with blue on the left. I called Mimi to alert her. She hadn't started yet.

Caution

Mom, the maple flavoring worked great and so did the glaze but .....

Don't try using extra large eggs with the family Danish Pastry recipe. I thought it looked about the right texture after I had stirred in the third egg, but I went ahead and put that last egg in.

The batter was the consistency of molasses, but I went ahead and spooned out the most pathetic, flat "drops" and was rewarded with pastries that didn't have a chance to rise and shine.

Nevertheless, I glazed them and Neil said, "if you fold them in half like a calzone, they are fine." Sigh.....

Frames

There is something decadent about having an extra day on the weekend. Got up shot from guns and did many chores including setting the dye on the brown border fabric. Dried, ironed - yes, even I iron fabric during a project - and cut the 10.5" x 1.5" strips, only to find that I had given myself a little extra assurance that the square would turn out to be 10.5" by taking slightly less than 1/4" seam allowance.

Result: all the medallion squares are 10.75"

Enough to stall sewing and cutting and send me to a book. Finished The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest and mowed the lawn, and I still have two days left in the long weekend.

Barn Red

It was the annual sale at Capital Quilts so I went to look for the barn red for Amanda's wedding quilt. What I found I love and the hand is marvelous. I decided to make it the back also and needed about nine yards. They only had 5.25 yards left on the bolt. Sigh.....

So I will use a gold on the back that is unremarkable.

Imagine the warm brown one inch frame around these medallions before I assemble, and a little gold piping before the brown border.

Good thing it is a holiday weekend!

Mutual Admiration

I have always liked this photo of discovery.

Jack had learned to crawl and Jim was up on the sofa, around the corner he came and they broke into mutual delight at discovering each other.

A fun visit in Simi Valley rental.

Spring Grass

My fabulous helper stopped making dinner and patiently held the yardstick in the grass so I could take this shot of what happens in the spring with ideal weather, lots of rain and recently applied fertilizer.

It goes to seed if you don't keep it cut!

Time to mow.

May 25th

The new Clematis. I had an old one this color, then it was divided and ended up expiring. The replacement bought at the end of the season years later was a lighter pink/purple.

Last year I went early to the nursery and found my old purple favorite. I planted it on the opposite side of the mailbox.

After a tough winter, only the old standby is left. Next year it should be even fuller. The little one on the left didn't make it.

Tomorrow: how fast does the grass grow with rain, fertilizer and ideal weather?

Pink Peonies

The upper bed is weeded but not this Clark side of the lower triangle, which has the center row of peonies which I have always thought of as purple. But I can see they are quite pink, now that the camera has captured them.


Spring is such a good time of year in the East when the perennials march through the growing season. You can see the dusting of oxalis that I have to hoe away and on this side of the bed, I have not cut back the daffodil stems yet.

The Red Peony

This is the most flowers I have had on this deep red peony, which is one of my favorites. I like the old fashioned whites with the red in the center because of their fragrance, but this deep color remains a pleaser.

Notice the thistles are gone surrounding the flowers? I pulled four lawn bags of thigh high thistles out of the flower beds yesterday and then the rain came.

At first I thought it would be the routine spotty shower, but no. It was the steady and heavy rain. Everything is sopping wet today so I am reading and quilting instead of pulling even more weeds.

May Board Meeting

Just back from the gym and bagels/grapes and strawberries all set out for the board meeting, but Upcounty is so hard for some. It is the same distance I travel to go to other's homes for board meetings, but Upcounty just seems farther away from their DC centric locations.

So, of course, taking pictures of the flowers while I wait. One nice thing about having the Kousa Dogwood in the back flower bed, is the viewpoint of top blossoms from either upstairs bathroom.

Native dogwood blossoms long gone in front. Peonies in profusion this week also.

Caroline's Fish Picture

Caroline's first complete iPhone picture on Gramee's phone. The first picture (not shown) had the fish, but also much of her thumb while she held the phone to view the fish.

Pretty clear for a three year old!

These fish were in the waiting area for our first Austin lunch on arrival. We landed a bit late, and Marilyn and Scott got in a bit early. The result was we met each other on the jetway. Something that never happens now, but brought back memories for the four of us of olden times when we could meet incoming relatives at airport gates.

No longer.

Long Austin Weekend

We might as well have gone fishin' for all the communications I have made on my blog. A long Austin weekend starting last Friday to celebrate Caroline's third birthday with the Olsons and kids.

Naturally, this princess opened the princess package first, and yes that is a black eye on her left from a tumble the night before.

She was her usual irrational exuberant self but we think she had a very good long weekend. The adults just ate food, played with the kids, took tours, ate some more and caught up on the news. A great weekend.

Smocking 2.0

The only pin left is at the center back where the snaps need to be sewn on to fasten the dress.

But, so much improvement needed. This is garment number two and while I did learn stars, they needed to be smaller and are just blobs of blue. And I need to have two widths of fabric with a seam somewhere because I smock on a 7" width and it has to stretch to 11" distorting the stitches.

So I guess I have to make one more garment.

Howzit Coming?

Is it the night before we leave, save one?

Is the dress done yet?

Are those pins I see?

Where is the skirt?

Tune in tomorrow.

What Are The Rules Anyway

Is it that we take a picture on the exact day each day? What if I take a series of pictures because the sun is out over the weekend, and daily pictures don't happen? It is the daily entry, right? Whatever. Now I am on the daily blog and I have enough fodder to post every day.

Soon we are off to Austin. We might find 100 degrees and right now with 41 degrees this morning, that would be fine with me. brrrrr.

Ever since we got the seeds at Monticello, we've had Columbine in the garden. These are the light and dark pink and orange varieties, but there are blues, purples and whites in other parts of the garden because they seed freely.

What a Difference A Day Makes

So shaggy with the post bulb blossoms spent and the green gangly stems just hanging out, you can't even see there is a Blue Salvia and hosta and snowballs hiding under the blanket of extra green leaves.

Mothers Day weekend was really windy but cool with low humidity and I had lipstick pink vinca ready to tuck in between the bulbs.

Hours of work later, this is what it looks like now.

Morning Sun

For the briefest of moments, before the Smith house cast shadow on the deck garden, the Siberian Iris were highlighted.

Yes, all those other tumbled green leaves are daffodils which I am in the process of cutting back.

Got five flats of annuals for Mother's Day and only have half left to set in, which takes longer than you would think because I have to cut back the spent daffodils, grape hyacinths and remove a few weeds.

Did I mention the top coating of mulch?

Longdraft Getting Upgraded

The county is working on Longdraft -- not making it the four lane road it should be in light of all the "cut through" traffic, but putting on new pavement the professional way.

First they scarified and removed the top layer, then they have been digging in each individual dip or bad spot and laying a subpavement layer improving the overall trim of the road.

Next up I would guess is the actual paving. We are really getting upgraded, consequently, they lowered the speed to 25 mph.

The Cul De Sac Mushroom

You know how the cul de sac hasn't changed in twenty-five years? Well, I missed getting the before pictures on Howard and Donna's new mail box because one day the old one was there and then the next day it was not.

Kind of like mushrooms which appear overnight!

Fairly imposing, but I love rocks and always thought these same rocks might make a low wall on the left side of my house keeping the garden from growing into the yard. But I wasn't thinking of such an imposing mailbox!

The Full Rhodo

The Rhodo in full bloom. Yes those are Canadian thistles and they are at some points taller than the 25 year old Rhodo.

I got the big saplings out of the bed under the pines, which is pretty much the bird dropping bonanza of plants, but the new crop of thistles still has to be culled.

And the Columbine came out in the last few days. Watch this space.

Siberian Iris

Mimi shared a clump of Siberian Iris with me this year. It is not a heavy as the Bearded Iris and is a dark purple and delicate.

Amazingly, they bloomed, even though I had such a hard time dividing the clump and even turn it upsidedown at one point, balanced on the shovel and jumped.

Very woody center and tough as the dickens to divide. But they seem to have survived my harsh division techniques, much to my delight!

Tallest Iris Display

I moved the iris patch to the opposite side of the yard last year. The ground is dryer and they survived, but didn't bloom. This year they are fuller, taller and have lots of blossoms. I think they like it here!

The Rhodo Starts To Bloom

This was yesterday. The Rhododendrun is starting to bloom. This plant is 25 years old, never liked the front of the house, and doesn't seem to like the side yard either. About five years ago, I moved it to near the pine bed, thinking it would like the acid of the pine needles.

It remains about the size of a ten gallon plant can. The neighbors have been able to start their plants at the same time I did and theirs reach their garage eves!

Perhaps it is the slower growth version of those gargantuan cousins. Still pretty this time of year. And the Iris are blooming. More on that tomorrow.

And It Is Red

My favorite wheelbarrow is the smallest in the neighborhood, and old.

And ever since we moved the Kouza Dogwood to the backyard, far exceeding its load capacity, the wheel housing bent and while still useable, the old red had a gait of its own. I can't tell you the number of spilled loads of precariously balanced clippings sacks, because of unexpected tilts while rolling, but there were enough to be annoying.

However, the last straw for several years now has been the cracks and holes in the front of the bed, so that it no longer held water. I get a lot of volunteers in my gardens and occasionally move and mass the disparate plantings. When I do this, I fill the wheelbarrow with water and just rip those babies out. Bathed in the water, and relocated to a new place in the garden, many survived this rough treatment. But without the water bath, I was losing seedlings.

So I made mention of wanting a new wheelbarrow one phone call to my persistent list maker. Her response was, "well, why isn't that on your Amazon wish list?" It is hard for ordinary folks to please her to the level of her internal gold standard. Nevertheless, she got the message and dragged in my husband to the unfulfilled need.

We found out they don't make wheelbarrows like old red any more - at least we couldn't find them on the internet, so Neil took me to Lowe's last night. There was one very similar (holds one cubic foot more, but I won't fill it to the top) and it has a bodaciously fat, air-filled tire, making it easier to wheel around actually. The best part? It is red. I love it. Thank you for the perfect Mother's Day gift!

A Good Crop

I am pretty sure Dad took this picture in 1982 and sent it down to California to show how tall the wheat was as measured by Eric and Raleigh.

Ask "the cousins" to tell you some Double Z Ranch stories if you have a couple of hours and want to learn more about this common denominator.

Yes, we all picked up rocks and put them in buckets, but that wasn't all those plowed fields grew.